Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4O-02747

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-18675

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 December 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 13 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many children in Scotland have been adversely impacted by the so-called bedroom tax.

Question reference: S4W-18842

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 12 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to assist the Church of Scotland and other faith bodies to develop and promote a better use of credit unions.

The Scottish Government recognises the valuable role played by credit unions in providing ethical and affordable financial services and products to a wide range of customers. We are committed to doing all that we can to support and promote credit unions, and to encourage more people in Scotland to become members.

As part of this commitment, we are working in partnership with the Church of Scotland and other faith bodies to help promote credit unions within their local communities. The Scottish Government has seconded a Senior Policy Advisor to the Church of Scotland to provide additional support for financially disadvantaged individuals and families in Scotland by assisting with the further development of credit unions.

Question reference: S4O-02719

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Creative Scotland regarding the establishment of a film and TV studio for Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-18424

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2013
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by John Swinney on 18 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will set out the economic opportunities of independence.

The Scottish Government will publish Building security and creating opportunity: economic policy choices in an independent Scotland on the morning of Tuesday 19 November. The report is a detailed analysis of the performance of the Scottish economy as part of the UK and in comparison to similar sized countries. The report shows that Scotland, while performing well within its current limited powers, lags behind other comparable countries on key measures of productivity and participation and that with the tools of independence Scotland would be able to ensure a more prosperous, inclusive, secure and outwards focused economy.

Question reference: S4O-02543

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the abolition of prescription charges will have over this coming winter.

Question reference: S4W-16530

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 2 October 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many children in Scotland were affected by the abolition of child trust funds and how many were from (a) low income and (b) the poorest 30% of households.

As this policy relates to a reserved matter, we do not hold detailed information on numbers affected as a result of the abolition of the policy.

However, a broad estimate suggests that in total around 580,000 children in Scotland will have been affected by the abolition of this policy, up to June and the end of 2013. This includes 147,000 newborns who will have missed out on both the initial and the age seven top-up payment and a further 423,000 children who will have missed out on the age seven top-up payment.

(a) Around 87,000 of these will have come from low income households

(b) And within this total, 29,000 will have come from the poorest 30% of households.

Question reference: S4O-02358

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 September 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it provides to local authorities on gull management.

Question reference: S4O-02347

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the under-occupancy charge, which is commonly known as the bedroom tax, is having on communities in Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-16389

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cumulative impact of changes to (a) tax credits and (b) housing benefit since 2010 on (i) poverty and (ii) child poverty in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not produce projections of poverty. However, changes to tax credits since 2012 are estimated to leave low income households in Scotland approximately £700 a year worse-off on average, with some losing all their tax credit entitlement. Similarly, changes to housing benefit will have further reduced the income of many households already living in poverty. The under-occupancy penalty in the social rented sector, for example, is estimated to affect 82,500 households in Scotland, with an average loss of around £570 per affected household per year, if they are unable to move due to the shortage of suitably sized accommodation. 15,500 of these are households with children.

The UK Government has not yet produced a robust assessment of the cumulative impacts of the welfare reforms it has introduced. The Scottish Government has requested such an assessment. However, no such assessment has been forthcoming to date. The Scottish Government has therefore undertaken its own welfare analysis, available via these links:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/analysis; http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/chma/Benefitchanges

Sources:http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/supply-demand/chma/Benefitchanges/underoccupancypenalty

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/analysis/wrimpactonfamilies